Having spent a year and half touring as a non-permanent member of the Shins, as well as working with Vetiver, Eric Johnson has recently returned to his own band Fruit Bats, with whom he has recorded and released the well-received album The Ruminant Band. This coming Thursday, 17 December, Fruit Bats visit our fair city and hit our favourite subterranean nightspot the Roadhouse – so we caught up with Eric.

Hello Eric. How are you? How’s your day been?

It’s going well – though right now I have not left the Travelodge Nottingham. But I’ve got coffee on the way, which is going to start my day off. We’ve been touring a bunch in France and Spain and although I love the espresso there, I like the British/American tradition of a nice large cup in the morning.

How is your current tour going?

It’s been great! We’ve been mainly touring in southern Europe with Vetiver, who are our dear friends (and make amazing music). So it’s been one long sweet mellow hang. We’ve just begun the UK portion of the tour without them. The first two shows have been amazing. I’ve been pretty surprised by the turn-outs, in fact.

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A friend asked me to mention CityLifers, a reviews site he writes for – something of an unofficial off-shoot from CityLife. They’re looking for Manchester music fans looking to ‘indulge your inner journalist’ and share their views with a like-minded community. Here’s CityLifers‘ manifesto:

• To create a place for EVERYONE with a passion for music, so they can spread the word about the bands, artists, singles, albums and venues they are passionate about.
• To feature reviews and recommendations of the latest and best music out there.
• To make sure that smaller venues and the acts that play in them are given the coverage and recognition they deserve. At some point in their careers, all bands and artists rely heavily on these places to learn their craft.
• Without fans with a passion for music, the world would be even more awash with the soulless sounds that are so often thrust upon us. We believe that every music fan using this site is as much a part of the music industry as record companies and the artists themselves. It is the people that buy music and watch bands live that help keep musicians in a job, so we believe that those music fans should have a place to make their views known.

The site is stuffed full of content – from venue, album, single and live reviews to interviews with the likes of Jesca Hoop. They’re offering free CDs to reviewers – visit http://citylifers.co.uk/want-to-join-us/ to send a sample review and join the CityLifers team.